-By Warner Todd Huston
The NBA may think it has set in motion the eventual sale of the L.A. Clippers thanks to racist comments made by team owner Donald Sterling, but Sterling has a long history of launching tough lawsuits and is rumored to have told a friend that he isn’t going to just roll over in this deal.
After a recording of Sterling’s racist private comments made to a girlfriend became public, NBA commissioner Adam Silver banned the Clippers owner for life and now the NBA owners are planning to take a vote about what they should do about the whole situation.
Most assume the owners will vote to try and force Sterling to sell his team and vacate the league. There are many reports that members of the owners group are saying that they think they already have the votes to sanction Sterling.
But, on the other hand, this is the United States of America and citizens have a certain expectation that something they have purchased with their own hard earned money is their property and they have certain rights to it.
With that in mind, there are some hints that Sterling may not simply roll over and take the demands of the owners and the NBA as pat. He may fight back.
The LA Times points out that Donald Sterling has a very long history of tough litigation.
Sterling’s first act as an adult was as a personal injury attorney. So, he is no stranger to the courtroom. His second act was as a real estate mogul. There is no lack of litigation in that field, either. Also, Sterling now has an estimated fortune of $1.9 billion–a total that gives him quite a war chest with which to fight on.
“Even if the NBA board of governors gets its three-quarters vote,” the LA Times reports, “Sterling might not go quietly–his history of legal ferocity extends far beyond that early career as a lawyer.”
Sterling is no stranger to wins in the courtroom. He has won two tough cases. In 2005 he won a sexual harassment case brought against him and he also beat a case brought by a disgruntled employee, Clippers General Manager Elgin Baylor. There are plenty more cases in his history, too.
The Clippers owner has developed a reputation. A U.S. District Judge, Dale S. Gischer, has said that the “scorched earth” policy of Sterling’s legal team is “often unacceptable, and sometimes outrageous.”
Then there is the report from Fox News’ Jim Gray who announced on April 29 that Sterling told him that the Clippers are not for sale.
Finally there is the question of whether or not a long drawn out fight could hurt the value of the team. If Sterling is of a mind he could fight hard enough to sink the ship. Or perhaps live up to his “scorched earth” reputation.
So, as the world awaits the decision of the NBA owners, it also awaits to see what Donald Sterling will do. Fight or flight.
____________
“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”
–Samuel Johnson
Follow Warner Todd Huston on:
Twitter
Facebook
Tumblr
Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer. He has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and before that he wrote articles on U.S. history for several small American magazines. His political columns are featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, BigHollywood.com, and BigJournalism.com, as well as RightWingNews.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, Wizbang.com, among many, many others. Huston has also appeared on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and many local TV shows as well as numerous talk radio shows throughout the country.
For a full bio, please CLICK HERE.